... a comprehensive campaign to encourage sexually active adults -- women and men -- to use contraceptives is long overdue. The United States has a much higher rate of unintended pregnancies than other industrialized nations, which do a better job of promoting family planning. Nearly half of all pregnancies among American women are unintended; and almost half of those are terminated by abortions, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which advocates family planning. In 2002, 1.29 million abortions took place, the institute said.

This goes to the heart of the biggest hypocrisy of those who, in the name of religious beliefs, deny a female the right to protect herself with proper education regarding birth control, safe and easy access to contraception, and ultimately, contributing to the increased likelihood of contracting STDs and facing the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy.

But more and more, reasonable Americans are finding this bit of common ground:

Many reasonable Americans agree on two things: First, an unintended pregnancy is too complex a matter to be decided by anyone except the mother, her doctor and her loved ones; and, second, there are far too many abortions in this country. Ninety-four percent of Americans believe that contraceptive use is morally acceptable.

The ultimate goal for most people caught in the midst of this debate is agreement that abortion ought to be "safe, legal and rare." However, this most lofty goal can remain nothing more than a pipe dream if an unreasonable stance against contraceptives as a viable option continues to hold sway in this country.